Salinate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To enhance the salinity of a substance or environment by adding salt
2. To introduce salt into a substance or area, thereby raising its salt content
3. To cause a material or environment to become saltier by the addition of salt

Etymology: "Salinate" is a plain formation: the adjective "saline" with the verb-forming suffix "-ate" attached, so it means to make something saline. The base, "saline," comes from Latin "salinus," meaning "of salt," from "sal," salt. The Latin suffix "-atus," which turns nouns and adjectives into verbs, passed into English as "-ate," so "salinate" joins the many English verbs such as "chlorinate" and "hydrate" built the same way.